Activists say Syrian regime forces kill 87 people

A total of 87 people were killed in several cities of Syria on Thursday in operations staged by forces loyal to the Syrian regime, activists said. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), a London-based group that tracks civilian and dissident casualties, said that Assad forces killed 31 in Dera'a, 23 in the suburbs of capital Damascus, 13 in Aleppo, 8 in Homs, 6 in Idlib, two each in el-Haseqqeh and Raqqah, one each in Hama and Deir al-Zor in air and land offensives. Meanwhile, Syria Local Coordination Committee (LCC) stated fierce clashes take place between Syrian army and armed opposition groups in the Yarmouk, Douma and Darya suburbs. LCC added, Assad forces hold artillery attacks in several suburbs of the capital. Moreover, LCC said, the army was using heavy weapons in the Halidiya and Bab-Hud regions of Homs city. The Committee stressed that after the attack of Free Syrian Army units on military points in the Halidiya, regime forces started shelling the region both from land and air. LCC noted, fierce clashes also take place in many neighbourhoods of the Aleppo city between regime forces and opposition groups, and said that military jet planes dropped bombs on residential areas near the Quwairis military base. Furthermore, SANA, Syrian national news agency, announced that regime forces made major gains against opposition fighters in operations across the country.